Dear Editor:
RE: CWDHS student charged in assault that sent fellow student to hospital, Oct. 14.
Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) has been on the rise for many years and has gone unaddressed for far too long. Our society has adopted social norms that have led to this drastic increase of violence and now is the time that each and every one of us takes the responsibility to address this crisis.
The issue of SGBV is widespread and has been affecting targeted groups within their workplaces, schools, homes and all over their communities.
Many of us in the Centre Wellington area have become aware of a recent incident involving severe violence towards a transgender student at CWDHS. This horrific event has opened the eyes of many in our community and created awareness of the prevalence of SGBV even in a small town like ours.
It is important that we act on this issue now. We can not dismiss this event and avoid the problem because the problem is rooted in avoidance. We have avoided the issues of exclusion, discrimination, and microaggressions which only led us to more severe and violent attacks.
We must act now. School assemblies and newspaper articles are a good place to start, but that’s not going to cut it. We need to come together as a community and face this issue together. Talk to your kids, educate yourself, understand your personal prejudices and address them. This is an issue we all have to take responsibility for.
As a community let’s work together to educate the public, create more safe spaces for the LGBTQ+ community, enforce policies that have no tolerance for discrimination, and most importantly let’s break this cycle of avoiding issues until it’s too late.
Tina Marques,
Fergus